Welcome to the Child Nutrition Program Home Page. It is our goal to ensure that all students and faculty have access to healthy meals served in a safe and pleasing environment.

The Child Nutrition Program operates under the supervision of The National School Lunch Program. The NSLP is a federally assisted meal program operating in over 100,000 public and non-profit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost, or free lunches to more than 29 million children each school day. To apply for benefits, click on Application for Free and Reduced Meal Benefits to the left, or contact your local school.

School lunches must meet the applicable recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommend that no more than 30 percent of an individual's calories come from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat. Regulations also establish a standard for school lunches to provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories.

Any child at a participating school may purchase a meal through the National School Lunch Program. Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals. Those with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for reduced-price meals, for which students can be charged no more than 40 cents.